Next week Simon Fraser University will have a healthy contingent of athletes trying to escape Charlotte’s web with a medal.
Eight members of the SFU track and field team qualified for the NCAA Div. 2 outdoor track and field championships next week in Charlotte, N.C.
Leading the way are returning All-Americans Addy Townsend and Vladislav Tsygankov.
Townsend, a junior, will be competing in the 1500-metre event after having finished sixth last year in the 800m, while Tsygankov, a senior, will be working at topping his seventh-place result in the men’s 400m hurdles at last year’s championships.
Also making second appearances at the NCAA finals are seniors Sophie Dodd, who placed 14th in the 800m last year, and Oliver Jorgensen, who as a freshman competed in the 3000m steeplechase.
Making their outdoor nationals debut are seniors Reta Dobie, competing in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, Ally Ginther, in the 5000m race, and freshman Renate Bluschke and sophomore Nicole Lindsay, part of SFU’s first-ever relay team at the nationals.Bluschke and Lindsay will run with Townsend and Dodd in the 4x400m relay.
Townsend also qualified to run the 800m but chose to focus on the longer distance, where she is ranked third in the nation.
“It was a pretty agonizing decision,” said SFU head coach and mom Britt Townsend. “We have trained for the 800 all year, but she was ranked third in the 1500 and she has never been ranked that highly in either event before, so it’s a good problem to have.”
Tsygankov is ranked 13th in the 400 hurdles, but ran only two hurdles races prior to qualifying in 2017.
Jorgensen competed in the mile at the NCAA indoor championships in March and has earned his way back to outdoor nationals in the 3000 steeplechase where he is ranked No. 11. “He’s a little tired and a little beat up – still struggling with injuries,” said the SFU coach.
